1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to foot pedals that are depressed by feet of players to strike drums by beater heads. In particular, the foot pedals use tension springs to apply return characteristics to beaters and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Foot pedals are arranged for drum sets to allow players to depress them with their feet. When a player depresses the foot pedal with his/her foot, a beater is correspondingly revolved or moved towards a drum (e.g., a bass drum) so that a beater head (or mallet) strikes it to produce a corresponding drum sound. Conventionally, there are provided various types of structures and methods for improvements in the performability of the foot pedal for use in the drum set.
FIG. 4 shows the basic structure of the conventional foot pedal unit for use in the drum set. Herein, a pair of beaters 1 are attached to a rotation shaft 2, which is pivotally and rotatably supported by upper ends of a pair of support poles 3. The tip end of a foot pedal 4 (whose upper portion is only illustrated in FIG. 4) is interconnected to the prescribed position of the rotation shaft 2 between the attached positions of the beaters 1 by means of a transmission member 5 such as a chain or a plate-like member. A tension coil spring 6 is provided to apply a return characteristic to the foot pedal 4 so that the foot pedal 4 is automatically returned to its original position. One tension coil spring 6 can be arranged to engage with one end of the rotation shaft 2, or a pair of tension coil springs 6 can be arranged to engage with both ends of the rotation shaft 2, which is shown in FIG. 4. Herein, the upper end 6A of the tension coil spring 6 is hung on a roller 9, which is rotatably supported by a crank arm 7, via a link member 8. The lower end 6B of the tension coil spring 6 is hung in a through hole 10A of an adjustment screw 10, which is used to adjust the tension of the tension coil spring 6.
FIG. 5 shows the detailed structure around the adjustment screw 10 that is connected with the lower end 6B of the tension coil spring 6 via the through hole 10A. The adjustment screw 10 engages with a nut 11, which is rotatably supported by a support hole 13. The base portion of the support hole 13 is arranged at a bracket 12 that is an integral part of the support pole 3 and is horizontally projected from the support pole 3. A tapped hole 14 is formed to horizontally and partially penetrate through the bracket 12 in such a way that it rectangularly crosses the axial direction of the support hole 13. A fastening bolt 15 for fixing the nut 11 at the prescribed position is engaged with the tapped hole 14. Therefore, by merely revolving the nut 11 in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the adjustment screw 10 ascends up or descends down so that the tension of the tension coil spring 6 can be adjusted.
In the musical performance using the drums equipped with the aforementioned foot pedal unit, the player depresses the foot pedal 4 with his/her foot to cause a certain revolution of the rotation shaft 2 by means of the transmission member 5, so that the beaters 1 are forced to move towards the drumhead of the bass drum and the like. Accompanied with the revolution of the rotation shaft 2, the tip ends of the crank arms 7 correspondingly revolve to slightly ascend up. Hence, the tension coil springs 6 whose upper ends 6A are hung on the rollers 9 by the link members 8 are expanded to cause increases of their tensions, which in turn cause the increase of the load imparted to the beaters 1 and the foot pedal 4 via the rotation shaft 2. In addition, this causes displacements in the lower ends 6B of the tension coil springs 6, so that some friction may occur in the through holes 10A of the adjustment screws 10.
In the conventional foot pedal unit, the lower ends 6B of the tension coil springs 6 are directly hung on the through holes 10A of the adjustment screws 10, wherein there are provided very small contact areas between the lower ends 6B and the through holes 10A. That is, very large contact resistances occur therebetween because high loads are concentrated on the small contact areas. This may cause unpleasant noise during the playing of the drums. In addition, this may provide a bad influence to the player""s operation of the pedal. A lubricant may be effective to solve such drawbacks. However, there are provided small effective areas of the lubricant between the tension coil springs 6 and the adjustment screws 10. Hence, the lubricant may be run out in a relatively short period of time. Thus, it is difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of the lubricant to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.
It is an object of the invention to provide a foot pedal unit that ensures a smooth operation for a pedal for beating a bass drum when depressed with a player""s foot, while avoiding occurrence of unpleasant noise due to mechanical contacts between an adjustment screw and a tension coil spring repeatedly extended or contracted during playing of the bass drum.
This invention provides a foot pedal unit for use in a drum set that comprises a beater, a rotation shaft, a pair of support poles for rotatably supporting the rotation shaft, and a foot pedal connected to the rotation shaft. The foot pedal unit provides an automatic return structure that comprises a tension coil spring whose upper end is connected to a crank arm at one end of the rotation shaft via a first roller, an adjustment screw that is manually adjusted in height, and a second roller by which the lower end of the tension coil spring is connected with the adjustment screw. Due to the provision of the automatic return structure, the beater and foot pedal are automatically returned to their initial positions without causing unwanted friction or noise at the lower end of the tension coil spring that is extended or contracted when the player depresses the foot pedal with his/her foot because the second roller substantially absorbs the positional displacement of the lower end of the tension coil spring.
In the above, the lower end of the tension coil spring is connected with the second roller that is held by a holder attached to the adjustment screw. In addition, the adjustment screw engages with a nut that is fixed to a bracket, which is projected and formed as an integral part of the support pole.